After a brief week’s hiatus, Part Eighteen is here!

If you’re new to the story, head to Part One and start from the beginning!

Last time on Wings, Captain Renee Mollen and her Winged Riders assaulted the city of Rothfort, held by a foreign enemy. Their goal: free the city if possible. It became abundantly clear that they could not martial the strength to overthrow an entire army of foreign soldiers, so they regrouped and settled on freeing who they could and fleeing to regroup, starting with Renee and Marie’s family.

Wing Captain Claire Claymonte, having been taken hostage in the initial siege, was freed by Sadie, the Smokeshift, along with all the other soldiers held captive within the city, including Sadie’s husband Jeffrey Paige. She believed the plan was to take back their capital.

Read on…

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The Wings Take Shape

Part Eighteen – Coming to Terms

by Rick Cook Jr.

Sadie appeared in a puff of oily smoke, coalescing into her human form complete with clothing. Claire and the rest of the Winged Riders had not exactly waited patiently. They had secured weapons and armor where they could and were working towards the stables when Sadie found them.

She sighed and beckoned them forward. “It’s a fool thinks a Winged Rider lets others go into danger alone.”

Claire grinned. “Against our natures. What’s going on outside?” Continue reading →

Part Sixteen, and the beginning of the final act of The Wings Take Shape!

If you’re new to the story, head to Part One and start from the beginning!

Last time on Wings, Captain Renee Mollen, having survived betrayal at the hands of her new recruits by melding with the Totem spirit Swiftstrike (along with Marie), worked to convince her Winged Riders to take on other Totem spirits that Sadie had gathered to her.

After much discussion, she succeeded in granting all but three of the Totems to her soldiers Regina Hughes, Aldwin Tanner, Patricia Nightingale, Giselle Wander, and to the would-be-murderers Danver Cummins and Hilde Allworth.

She then hatched a plan with their newfound abilities against the foreign enemy at their capital city, Rothfort.

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The Wings Take Shape

Part Sixteen – Prep

by Rick Cook Jr.

They couldn’t storm Rothfort, of course. The foreign soldiers would take them down eventually, nine plus Sadie and a few able soldiers.

Jon knew it, Stalker knew it, but they came to the knowledge differently.

They crept through the Bloody Wood, each of the new Totem-Bonded still adjusting to having voices inside their heads. Nightingale refused to stay in human form, kept taking to the sky to glide as her Totem wished to do. Jon was glad for her. Continue reading →

A late posting of the next part of the serial novella, The Wings Take Shape!

If you’re new to the story, head to Part One and start from the beginning!

Last time on Wings, Stalker and Jon were busy with Sadie gaining a new, deeper bond. While she waited, Renee let herself be pulled into a trap by Danver and Hilde, who told her they were recruiting for her new army. When she arrived, Hilde stabbed her in the back and Renee thought she was going to die.

Except the spirit of the Wolf Totem, Swiftstrike, entered her and Marie and joined them like Stalker did Jon. Now the Winged Riders have an advantage, if only they can figure out how to utilize it!

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The Wings Take Shape

Part Fifteen – The Totems Reborn

by Rick Cook Jr.

Marie hadn’t gotten used to the feeling yet. She and Renee spent hours talking to Swiftstrike, learning about him, sharing stories, thrilling in being able to communicate mentally more fully via Swiftstrike.

He wanted to Change, but Marie wasn’t sure she was ready to let him try.

I wish to run, he said. Continue reading →

Part Fourteen of the serial novella The Wings Take Shape is coming at you!

If you’re new to the story, head to Part One and start from the beginning!

Last time on Wings, Stalker and Jon held counsel with Sadie and Renee, learning the truth of the Skinchangers and the enslaved Totems that made them possible. The cadshee had been a product of the Totems, animal spirit gods of the forest, and he enslaved them with their own power, infusing their spirits into the humans that would create the line of Skinchangers. Sadie, being the heir of the cadshee’s powers, agreed to try and free Stalker from Jon, giving her the freedom she so deeply desired.

It was not possible to split their souls, but Sadie discovered she could link them more permanently, giving Jon and Stalker equal control and consciousness. The essences of the other Totems within Jon were stripped away, joining with Sadie, all save for one that appeared to flee and disappear. Before they could enjoy their newfound symbiotic relationship, Renee screamed from down in the tunnels of the cadshee’s home.

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The Wings Take Shape

Part Fourteen – A Bond Breaks

by Rick Cook Jr.

“We should be up there,” Marie protested. Renee came back from the meeting with Jon and Sadie, worried all over that something awful was going to befall him. She hated being worried about Jon when she should be plotting to take back Rothfort, to liberate Roth Arden, but she couldn’t help it.

She said to those assembled, “It’s not our business. It’s Totem. It’s Skinchanger. We don’t have the right.” Continue reading →

It’s time to slow down a little bit with The Wings Take Shape and drop some info on you all. The weekly serial novella is coming to a turning point today, and the mad dash to the end will begin next week!

If you’re new to the story, head to Part One and start from the beginning!

Last week on Wings, Stalker and Jon fought for dominance inside Jon’s Skinchanger body. He lost and Stalker faced off against what she considered the abomination that betrayed her and the other Totems. Sadie inherited the abilities of the cadshee when she killed him, and she used those powers to defend herself against Stalker. They fought until Sadie took Stalker into the sky and threatened to drop her, and only then did Stalker’s fear of heights and death overwhelm her desire for vengeance.

Jon asserted control once more and promised Stalker that they would figure this all out, and elected to stay in the form of the cougar for a while yet.

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The Wings Take Shape

Part Thirteen – Reparation

by Rick Cook Jr.

Jon and Stalker shared the cougar’s body as well as they could, but Stalker was twitchy with Sadie nearby, and Jon kept letting himself be distracted by Renee’s hand on his head.

They settled into Sadie’s burrow near the entrance. Marie kept everyone back while Sadie and Stalker had their conversations. Renee refused to be parted even though she couldn’t communicate with Jon, and Jon was glad for her.

“It’s hard to explain,” Sadie began, talking to Renee. “And perhaps Stalker would not like me to share all the details.”

We are a fallen race, abomination. Who cares if every fertile woman from here to the end of the woods knows about us? Continue reading →